EXAMPLES OF DSG Research Projects

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►  Buyer list development and M&A/asset sale support
DSG has completed numerous research engagements to identify buyers for various types of corporate assets, including whole companies, company divisions and plants, inventories, machinery & equipment, financial assets (e.g. loan portfolios, equity stakes), real estate and intellectual property.

For each individual assignment, we researched the relevant industry and its players, identified potential buyers, created a prospect database, researched marketing avenues, assisted in preparation of teasers and investment memoranda, assisted in mailings & communications, managed follow-up activity data, and provided status reporting.

Our industry experience includes: agricultural biotechnology, software, computer and telecommunications equipment manufacturing, retailing, distribution, sub-prime lending, outdoors equipment, packaging, plastics and rubber products, construction, power generation, hotels, children's books, carpets, and many others.

Over the last five years, we supported sales of such representative assets as a high-tech medical glove company, a multi-plant rubber goods company, a digital media company, a power generation plant, wooden chair inventory, auto parts inventory, computer equipment, bobcats, paper-making machinery, sub-prime loan portfolios, receivable portfolios, packaging patents, a custom-built barge, and many others.

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►  Industry/issue primers
Our client, a consulting firm Director, asked us to compile a "quick" overview of the plastic resins distribution industry, with particular emphasis on recent commodity price movements and the competitive landscape in the New York state area.  This specific information was needed fast in order to prepare a competitive bid for an advisory engagement in the sector.  DSG conducted rapid-turnaround research and delivered critical business intelligence that helped the client win the engagement.

On another assignment, the same consulting firm Director asked us to research specific accounting and legal standards for determining insolvency in the United States.  It turns out that experts and courts disagree on the definition, and that rules differ by jurisdiction.  Consequently, we produced a summary of various definitions and tests used in practice, as well as descriptions of several case law examples to illustrate how various state courts have ruled on the subject.
 

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►  Health club industry analysis
Working in support of a lending bank, DSG prepared an in-depth industry report analyzing the health club sector in the Boston area.  The report consisted of three key sections: an industry overview, the demographics of health club membership, and a summary of a typical health club's economics, including club operating benchmarks, membership rates, development costs, and key success factors.
 

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►  Valuation support
DSG provided a narrative industry brief, merger & acquisition comparables, and public company comparables to support the valuation of a wholesale fruit juice manufacturer conducted by our client.

For the narrative industry brief, we consulted a range of sources including market research providers (Datamonitor, Mintel), analyst reports (Morgan Stanley), key competitor filings, government statistics, and numerous trade publications.

For comparable M&A transaction screening, we first conducted a thorough search of the Mergerstat database on multiple SIC codes and keywords.  We then eliminated deals based on various financial criteria and calculated comparable transaction ratios, such as EV-to-EBITDA and other multiples.

For the comparable public company selection, we first screened by industry and size for non-alcoholic beverage and food processing companies.  We then conducted additional detailed research to identify firms with the most comparable product lines and target markets.  We also verified key financial data against actual SEC filings.

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►  Forensic accounting support
DSG conducted extensive background research in support of a forensic accounting firm examining the activities of a bankrupt technology company.  Our involvement included: tracing equity issuance and insider trading transactions, researching backgrounds of officers and directors (see sample picture), analyzing historical stock price volatility and significant news events, researching linkages among insiders and related entities, reconciling company internal records with SEC filings, and preparing background materials for a presentation on recent corporate fraud cases and analytical techniques for detecting financial statement fraud.
 

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►  Bankruptcy sale support

DSG provided buyer research and data management support for a bankruptcy sale of a multi-plant manufacturing company (Section 363 asset sale).  As part of this engagement, we identified, researched and helped contact 251 potential buyers (strategic and financial) for the seller's manufacturing businesses, over 500 trade buyers for the seller's inventory, and 130 financial buyers for the seller's trade receivables.  We also provided industry and valuation comps research, as well as developed and hosted a custom follow-up website to keep track of deal progress and produce status reports for court testimony.  The engagement resulted in multiple bids and eventual successful sale of all assets.

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EXAMPLES OF DSG SURVEY Projects

►  Financial Intelligence Units Online
DSG designed and implemented a worldwide survey of Financial Intelligence Units, which are governmental organizations tasked with receiving, analyzing and disclosing financial intelligence on suspected money laundering and illegal activity financing in their countries. The results of this groundbreaking, publicly-available survey, including discussion of innovative website features and best practice examples, were first presented on June 10, 2004 at a Regional Workshop on Prevention of Money Laundering organized by the PFS Program, The Estonian Central Criminal Police (FIU) and the Estonian Police Board, with participation by law enforcement officials from Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, the UK, Ukraine and the United States.  The survey was commissioned by the PFS Program - a cooperative program of the East West Management Institute (EWMI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

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Click here to download the presentation

(3 MB, contains many screenshot examples and discussion of best practices).

►  Second Annual Worldwide Survey of Securities Commissions Online
DSG designed and implemented a worldwide survey of online presence by Securities Commissions in 40 developed and emerging countries. Our second annual review (2003) found that only 38% of the Commissions have an online database of public company filings, and only 46% publish online guidelines for registration and filing procedures. But despite these shortcomings, they made substantial progress since our first survey in 2002. The surveys were commissioned by the PFS Program - a cooperative program of the East West Management Institute (EWMI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
 

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Click here to download the presentation

(5 MB, contains many screenshot examples and discussion of best practices).

►  Third Annual Survey of Online Financial Disclosure in Poland
As Poland prepared to join the European Union in 2004, its companies were moving more quickly than many in Europe to post financial disclosure data online. Eighteen out of the twenty largest Polish companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) provided annual reports in English on their websites in 2003. Find out more from our comprehensive survey, commissioned by the PFS Program, and released at a special press conference at the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

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Click here to download the presentation

(3 MB, contains many screenshot examples and discussion of best practices)
 

►  Technology skills and seminar participant satisfaction surveys
DSG designed and implemented a variety of user and participant surveys - please see examples on the right, and do not hesitate to contact us to learn more about our capabilities.
 

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